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Hamid Karzai orders changes to draft law amid fears for Afghan women Hamid Karzai orders changes to draft law amid fears for Afghan women
(about 4 hours later)
The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has ordered changes to a draft of new criminal legislation in response to an international outcry warning it would severely limit justice for victims of domestic abuse. The Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, has backed away from a law that would have silenced victims of domestic violence, forced marriage and child abuse, after a campaign by Afghan activists and western governments.
Afghanistan's parliament had passed a criminal procedure code that would ban relatives from testifying against alleged abusers. The new criminal prosecution code, backed by a prominent opponent of women's rights, banned relatives from testifying against each other. In a country where forensic evidence is relatively undeveloped, that would halt prosecution in most cases of violence against women.
While the legislation awaited signature from Karzai, human rights organisations and several of Afghanistan's western allies – including the US and EU – voiced strong concerns that it would effectively curb prosecutions involving violence against women, where relatives are often the only witnesses. On Monday the cabinet ordered changes to the brief section of the law that had caused the outcry, said Karzai's spokeswoman Adela Raz. "At the meeting his excellency the president, and the cabinet, decided that article 26 needs to be amended."
Karzai's spokesman, Aimal Faizi, said the president was "well aware" of the critiques and reports, and had decided at a cabinet meeting on Monday that the legislation must be changed. She declined to say how the law would be altered, but the public repudiation of what would have been a devastating step backwards for Afghan women was welcomed by activists and diplomats. They had mounted a vigorous lobbying campaign, both in public and behind the scenes, since the legislation first came to light this month.
"We are not going to allow any such law to come into force unless the necessary amendments are made," Faizi said, suggesting there may have been issues with how the area in question – article 26 – had been translated into English. "Who says advocacy and lobbying does not work? It does and we have seen results always. Here is one of that," tweeted the campaigner Samira Hamidi. The European Union welcomed Karzai's decision to "stop [a] setback for women's rights".
While the ministry of justice will decide how to amend the text, Faizi stressed the resulting legislation would be clear. Raz denied that the president – who is at odds with the US over issues ranging from the election to the long-term presence of foreign troops – had been slow to act. The draft had been held up by bureaucracy, and the president moved to block it as soon as it reached his desk, she said.
"This law will not bar any relative or any family member to testify against each other or another member of [the] family," he said. "It will be up to them. They will have the freedom." "As soon as it arrived, it was brought to the cabinet as any law would be for discussion, and like anyone else who is concerned about women's rights they responded," she said, adding that Karzai had a track record of supporting women. "In the past you have seen that the president is someone who has made sure women's rights are protected according to the laws of the country."
Women in Afghanistan have won back many of the rights they lost during Taliban rule, from 1996 to 2001, when the Islamic movement was ousted from power by a US invasion after the September 11 attacks. But the cabinet order may not signal an end to the law. An aide to the justice minister, who gave his name only as Popal, said the ministry would make amendments as ordered and then send the criminal prosecution code back to parliament.
Under the Taliban, girls were barred from attending school and women were forced to stay indoors and cover their heads and faces with burqas. Conservatives in the law-making body had already quashed an earlier effort to water down the legislation, which would have barred forcing relatives to testify rather than any family testimony. The same block could potentially oppose the new changes, and may have some allies in the ministry.
There are fears that those regained freedoms may shrink as foreign forces depart by the end of this year, and much of the international aid and assistance they brought to Afghanistan goes with them. Shortly before news of the cabinet order spread, a justice ministry official told the Guardian that western embassies had simply "misunderstood" the law, and that he expected the confusion would be resolved soon and without any changes needed.
Heather Barr, Afghanistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, said: "We are cautiously optimistic after hearing statements from the palace. We need to see the exact language before we can know whether it will really fix the problem. Unfortunately, there are two major problems with this law, and the government has only shown interest in fixing one."
Allowing all relatives to decline testifying goes far further than protections in most countries, where only spouses can avoid giving testimony. There is also no definition of relatives in the law, so particularly in villages linked by complex ties of marriage and blood it could potentially cover dozens or even hundreds of potential witnesses.